Clark Gable & Carole Lombard in the 1940 Census

By Kimberly Powell, About.com Guide

In 1939 Clark Gable, star of the motion picture world, purchased the estate of famous director Raoul Walsh in Encino, a hilly suburb of Los Angeles, California. This 25-acre property and ranch house is where the enumerator found Clark and his new wife, Carole Lombard, on April 1, 1940. Interestingly, it also states that they lived in the "same house" in 1935 which isn't correct. The 1940 US census enumeration lists Clark and Carole as "actor" and "actress" in the "motion picture industry," respectively, recording the annual 1939 salary for each as $5,000+, 1939 being the year that Clark Gable starred as Rhett Butler in the movie "Gone With the Wind."¹ Another couple enumerated on the previous page but at the same address (4525 Petit Ave., now 4543 Tara Dr.), Fred and Augusta East, appear to have been living on the property as caretakers.²

Sadly, Carole Lombard died less than 2 years after being enumerated in the 1940 census. On January 16, 1942, she was aboard TWA Flight 3 returning home from a war bond rally in her home state of Indiana, when it crashed near Los Angeles claiming the lives of everyone aboard.

Next Celebrity: Frank Lloyd Wright
Full List: Famous Americans in the 1940 Census

__________________________________________

Sources:

1. 1940 U.S. Census, Los Angeles County, California, population schedule, Los Angeles City (Encino), enumeration district (ED) 60-1319, unpaginated, sheet 7B, household number omitted, line number 67, Clark Gable household; digital images, Archives.com (http://1940census.archives.com : accessed 3 April 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication T627, roll 377.

1. 1940 U.S. Census, Los Angeles County, California, population schedule, Los Angeles City (Encino), enumeration district (ED) 60-1319, page 1525 (stamped), sheet 7A, household number omitted, line number 23, Fred East household; digital images, Archives.com (http://1940census.archives.com : accessed 3 April 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication T627, roll 377.